Some nights I just want to log in, mute the brain chatter, and run maps until my stash starts looking silly. That's why I've been leaning hard into a Pure Bubblegum setup during the Phrecia 2.0 event, and I even skimmed Path of Exile 1 Items earlier when I was pricing out what I might need to smooth out my gear. It's not about chasing a miracle drop. It's the steady drip of fusings, alchs, vaals, sextants, and all the little stuff that people always buy, and it adds up fast.
Everybody has a favorite: Dunes, City Square, whatever's trendy this week. I keep coming back to Jungle Valley because it's hard to mess up. The layout is basically a line, so you're not doing that awkward "did I clear this corner?" loop every other map. I sprint to the boss first and delete it right away. The boss arena being separate is a big deal, because it means the main map stays focused on altar spawns instead of baiting you into boss-only altar choices you don't even want. After the boss is done, I backtrack and full clear, and the whole thing just feels clean.
I stopped trying to force Wandering Path. It's cool, but it's also the kind of thing that turns a relaxed farm into a mini project. I'd rather lock in Singular Focus and never think about map sustain again, because buying maps is the fastest way to kill your mood. From there it's simple: load up on Eater of Worlds altar nodes for quantity and currency options, then pick up Domination and Ambush. More shrines and more strongboxes means more monsters, and more monsters means more chances to spawn altars. You'll notice it pretty quickly: the maps start "printing" because the density stays high the whole run.
The investment is deliberately boring. I run two Ambush scarabs and one Domination scarab, then roll the map until it's not a nightmare for my build. If you're still gearing, don't pretend you love 8-mod maps when you're dying on every other pack. Start where you're comfortable, keep your resists capped, and prioritize clear speed over fancy tech. The profit comes from repetition anyway. The best part is how sellable everything is: bulk fusings, chromes, alchs, vaals, sextants. People pay extra to buy it all at once, and you don't have to gamble on rare drops to feel rich.
I tracked a solid batch of runs and the hourly rate landed in that "wait, seriously?" zone, mostly because the bubblegum piles up faster than you expect. Every now and then the altars line up with duplication and it gets stupid, but even the average maps feel worthwhile. If you're starting late or you just don't want to grind out the first wave of upgrades, it can be handy to top up through u4gm since they offer game currency and items without turning your whole week into a farming marathon, and then you can settle into this steady loop and let the stash tabs fill on autopilot.